The early hunting dog from Dmanisi with comments on the social behaviour in Canidae and hominins

The renowned site of Dmanisi in Georgia, southern Caucasus (ca. 1.8 Ma) yielded the earliest direct evidence of hominin presence out of Africa. In this paper, we report on the first record of a large-sized canid from this site, namely dentognathic remains, referable to a young adult individual that displays hypercarnivorous features (e.g., the reduction of the m1 metaconid and entoconid) that allow us to include these specimens in the hypodigm of the late Early Pleistocene species Canis (Xenocyon) lycaonoides. Much fossil evidence suggests that this species was a cooperative pack-hunter that, unlike other large-sized canids, was capable of social care toward kin and non-kin members of its group. This rather derived hypercarnivorous canid, which has an East Asian origin, shows one of its earliest records at Dmanisi in the Caucasus, at the gates of Europe. Interestingly, its dispersal from Asia to Europe and Africa followed a parallel route to that of hominins, but in the opposite direction. Hominins and hunting dogs, both recorded in Dmanisi at the beginning of their dispersal across the Old World, are the only two Early Pleistocene mammal species with proved altruistic behaviour towards their group members, an issue discussed over more than one century in evolutionary biology

Target Deformation of the Equus stenonis Holotype Skull : A Virtual Reconstruction

Equus stenonis is one of the most prevalent European Pleistocene fossil horses. It is believed to be the possible ancestor of all Old World Early Pleistocene Equus, extant zebras and asses, and as such provides insights into Equus evolution and its biogeography and paleoecology. The Equus stenonis holotype skull (IGF560) was first described by Igino Cocchi in 1867, from the Early Pleistocene locality of Terranuova (Upper Valdarno basin, Italy). IGF560 is a nearly complete, although medio-laterally crushed and badly compressed skull. Here we provide the first application of a new virtual reconstruction protocol, termed Target Deformation, to the Equus stenonis holotype. The protocol extends beyond classic retrodeformation by using target specimens as a guide for the virtual reconstruction. The targets used as a reference are two fragmentary, yet well-preserved E. stenonis skulls, coming from Olivola (Italy; IGF11023) and Dmanisi (Georgia; Dm 5/154.3/4.A4.5), both Early Pleistocene in age. These two specimens do not display any major deformation, but preserve different, only slightly overlapping portions of the skull. The virtual reconstruction protocol we carried out has shown its feasibility, by producing two 3D models whose final morphology is perfectly congruent with the natural variability of a comparative sample of E. stenonis specimens. This study shows the potential of using even broken or otherwise fragmentary specimens to guide retrodeformation in badly distorted and damaged specimens. The application of Target Deformation will allow us to increase the availability of comparative specimens in studies of fossil species morphology and evolution, as well as to the study of taphonomic processes

The bears from Dmanisi and the first dispersal of early Homo out of Africa

We report on the taxonomy and paleodiet of the bear population that inhabited the emblematic palaeoanthropological Early Pleistocene (1.8 Ma) site of Dmanisi (Georgia), based on a dual approach combining morphometrics and microwear of upper and lower teeth. Given that the teeth of Ursus etruscus Cuvier, 1823 from Dmanisi show considerable size variability, their systematic position has been debated. However, a comparative study of the coefficients of variation for tooth size measurements in several modern bear species shows that the variability in tooth size of the ursid population from Dmanisi could result from sexual dimorphism. The analysis of tooth microwear indicates that these bears inhabited a mixed environment of open plain with forest patches, where they had a browsing diet with a substantial contribution of meat and/or fish. Comparative tooth morphometric analyses of modern ursids and fossil U. etruscus indicate that this extinct species had an omnivorous behavior similar to that of extant brown bears. The ecological interactions of the Dmanisi bears with other members of the large mammals community, including the first hominins that dispersed out of Africa, are discussed in the light of this new evidence

Early Neolithic wine of Georgia in the South Caucasus

Chemical analyses of ancient organic compounds absorbed into the pottery fabrics from sites in Georgia in the South Caucasus region, dating to the early Neolithic period (ca. 6,000-5,000 BC), provide the earliest biomolecular archaeological evidence for grape wine and viniculture from the Near East, at ca. 6,000-5,800 BC. The chemical findings are corroborated by climatic and environmental reconstruction, together with archaeobotanical evidence, including grape pollen, starch, and epidermal remains associated with a jar of similar type and date. The very large-capacity jars, some of the earliest pottery made in the Near East, probably served as combination fermentation, aging, and serving vessels. They are the most numerous pottery type at many sites comprising the so-called "Shulaveri-Shomutepe Culture" of the Neolithic period, which extends into western Azerbaijan and northern Armenia. The discovery of early sixth millennium BC grape wine in this region is crucial to the later history of wine in Europe and the rest of the world

The Wolf From Dmanisi and Augmented Reality: Review, Implications, and Opportunities

In the complex scenario of Plio–Pleistocene mammalian faunal turnovers, recent research on canids has revealed an increasingly higher number of species than previously thought. In this framework, Georgia had a key role in the biogeographic dispersion of fauna from/to Asia, Africa, and Europe. Historically attributed to Canis etruscus, the rich Canis material recovered from Dmanisi possesses certain peculiar cranial and dentognathic features, which cannot be regarded only as intraspecific variability. We revealed closer similarities between the Dmanisi wolf and the younger European Canis mosbachensis, rather than with other Early Pleistocene canids as C. etruscus and Canis arnensis. The discovery of a Canis borjgali sp. nov. in Dmanisi, with characteristics close to those of C. mosbachensis, changes radically the idea of Canis lupus evolution as it is conveyed today, invalidating the paradigm C. etruscus–C. mosbachensis–C. lupus lineage. Furthermore, the geographic position of Dmanisi in the Caucasian area offers interesting insights regarding the Asian canids and their dispersion into Europe and Africa, an aspect still poorly investigated. The exquisite state of preservation of the fossil from Dmanisi combined with novel 3D visualization and a digital imaging technique gives us the opportunity to increase the outreach of the research thanks to user-friendly and free tools. Here, for the first time, we employed augmented reality on a few specimens of C. borjgali sp. nov. through a simple web app. The extraordinary chance offered by these technologies has yet to be implemented in scientific research and dissemination, particularly in paleontology

Upper Palaeolithic genomes reveal deep roots of modern Eurasians.

We extend the scope of European palaeogenomics by sequencing the genomes of Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,300 years old, 1.4-fold coverage) and Mesolithic (9,700 years old, 15.4-fold) males from western Georgia in the Caucasus and a Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,700 years old, 9.5-fold) male from Switzerland. While we detect Late Palaeolithic-Mesolithic genomic continuity in both regions, we find that Caucasus hunter-gatherers (CHG) belong to a distinct ancient clade that split from western hunter-gatherers ∼45 kya, shortly after the expansion of anatomically modern humans into Europe and from the ancestors of Neolithic farmers ∼25 kya, around the Last Glacial Maximum. CHG genomes significantly contributed to the Yamnaya steppe herders who migrated into Europe ∼3,000 BC, supporting a formative Caucasus influence on this important Early Bronze age culture. CHG left their imprint on modern populations from the Caucasus and also central and south Asia possibly marking the arrival of Indo-Aryan languages.This research was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant to R.P. (ERC-2010-StG 263441). D.B., M.H and AM. were also supported by the ERC (295729-CodeX, 310763-GeneFlow and 647787-LocalAdaptation respectively). The National Geographic Global Exploration Fund funded fieldwork in Satsurblia Cave l from April 2013 to February 2014 (grant- GEFNE78–13). V.S. was supported by a scholarship from the Gates Cambridge Trust and M.G.L. by a BBSRC DTP studentship. C.G. was supported by the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) ERC Support Programme and the Marie-Curie Intra-European Fellowships (FP7-IEF-328024). R.M. was funded by the BEAN project of the Marie Curie ITN (289966) and L.C. by the Irish Research Council (GOIPG/2013/1219). R.L.M. was funded by the ALS Association of America (2284) and Fondation Thierry Latran (ALSIBD). M.C. was supported by Swiss NSF grant 31003A_156853. We acknowledge Shota Rusataveli Georgian National Science Foundation as well as the DJEI/DES/SFI/HEA Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) for the provision of computational facilities and Science Foundation Ireland (12/ERC/B2227) for provision of sequencing facilities. We thank Valeria Mattiangeli and Matthew D. Teasdale for their assistance.This is the final version of the article. It was first available from NPG via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms991

Author Correction : The dental proteome of Homo antecessor (Nature, (2020), 580, 7802, (235-238), 10.1038/s41586-020-2153-8)

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

Genome-scale sequencing and analysis of human, wolf, and bison DNA from 25,000-year-old sediment

Cave sediments have been shown to preserve ancient DNA but so far have not yielded the genome-scale information of skeletal remains. We retrieved and analyzed human and mammalian nuclear and mitochondrial environmental "shotgun" genomes from a single 25,000-year-old Upper Paleolithic sediment sample from Satsurblia cave, western Georgia:first, a human environmental genome with substantial basal Eurasian ancestry, which was an ancestral component of the majority of post-Ice Age people in the Near East, North Africa, and parts of Europe; second, a wolf environmental genome that is basal to extant Eurasian wolves and dogs and represents a previously unknown, likely extinct, Caucasian lineage; and third, a European bison environmental genome that is basal to present-day populations, suggesting that population structure has been substantially reshaped since the Last Glacial Maximum. Our results provide new insights into the Late Pleistocene genetic histories of these three species and demonstrate that direct shotgun sequencing of sediment DNA, without target enrichment methods, can yield genome-wide data informative of ancestry and phylogenetic relationships

L'Homme de Dmanissi (<i>Homo georgicus</i>), il y a 1 810 000 ans

Les fouilles effectuées sur le site de plein air de Dmanissi, en Géorgie, ont permis de recueillir, depuis 1991, quatre crânes, trois mandibules, une quinzaine de restes post-crâniens et une douzaine de dents isolées. L\u27ensemble, correspondant à un minimum de quatre individus, deux adultes et deux adolescents, a été recueilli dans un contexte stratigraphique, paléontologique et archéologique précis et les datations par diverses méthodes ont permis de situer ces restes humains au-dessus d\u27une coulée de basalte datée par K/Ar entre 1,8 et 1,9 ± 0,01 Ma et à l\u27intérieur d\u27une couche de cendres volcaniques datées par 40Ar/ 39Ar de 1,80 ± 0,05 Ma. L\u27intérêt de ces découvertes est quadruple : – (1) les datations obtenues par diverses méthodes radiochronométriques et par paléomagnétisme ont mis en évidence, pour la première fois, que l\u27Homme était présent aux portes de l\u27Europe, en Transcaucasie, bien avant le scénario classique établi pour le peuplement de l\u27Europe ; – (2) les analyses des faunes et des pollens ont permis de préciser l\u27environnement de ce peuplement. De type savane, mais plus riche en ressources en eau que celui de l\u27Afrique, il traduit un climat tempéré, avec une mosaïque de paysages commandée par la diversité géomorphologique de la région, constituée de vallées, de lacs et de reliefs montagneux, tout proches, plus ou moins élevés du Grand et du Petit Caucase ; – (3) l\u27installation de ce groupe humain a pu être motivée par un environnement plus humide, qui a succédé à une aridification généralisée de l\u27Est de la Géorgie à la fin du Pliocène et qui a attiré la faune à la fois de l\u27Est du continent Eurasiatique et du Nord du continent Africain ; – (4) l\u27aspect morpho-fonctionnel de ces hommes se rapproche de celui des Homo habilis et de celui des Homo erectus les plus archaïques, connus tous deux uniquement en Afrique jusqu\u27à présent. Attribués à une nouvelle espèce : Homo georgicus, de petite taille, un mètre cinquante, avec une capacité crânienne de 600 à 700 cc (la moitié de celle des Hommes actuels), ils représentent la souche d\u27une longue lignée européenne, voire eurasiatique. Deux nouveaux concepts peuvent déjà être retenus : – la sortie du continent Africain est plus ancienne que prévu. Elle remonte au moins à 1,8 Ma. Elle a été effectuée par un groupe proche d\u27 Homo habilis, par Homo georgicus ; – l\u27hypothèse d\u27un développement cérébral indispensable et équivalent au moins à celui des Homo erectus (900–1000 cm 3 ) pour expliquer la capacité de l\u27Homme à prévoir et à décider une délocalisation doit être abandonnée. Homo georgicus, avec un cerveau de volume moindre, avait déjà la faculté de s\u27adapter à un environnement plus favorable à sa survie.Excavations carried out since 1991 at the open-air site of Dmanissi, Georgia, have yielded four craniums, three mandibles, about 15 postcranial remains and a dozen isolated teeth. These remains correspond to at least four individuals, two adults and two adolescents. They were excavated from a precise stratigraphic, palaeontological and archaeological context above a basalt flow dated by K/Ar between 1.8 and 1.9 ± 0.01 Ma in a volcanic ash layer dated by 40Ar/39 Ar to 1.80 ± 0.05 Ma. The interest of these discoveries is fourfold: – (1) the dates obtained by diverse radiochronometric methods and by palaeomagnetism demonstrate, for the first time, that Man was present at the gates of Europe, in Transcaucasia at a much earlier period than that established by the classical scenario; – (2) faunal and pollens analyses have revealed that the environment was close to a savannah type, but much richer in water resources than the African environment. It was a temperate climate, with a mosaic of different landscapes due to the geomorphological diversity of the region, made up of valleys, lakes and the nearby mountains of the Great and Small Caucasus; – (3) the settlement of this human group could have been a direct consequence of a more humid environment, which followed a generalised aridification of the East of Georgia at the end of the Pliocene and which attracted fauna from both the East of the Eurasian continent and the North of the African continent; – (4) the morphofunctional aspects of these humans are close to those of Homo habilis and to those of the most archaic Homo erectus , which were the only species known in Africa up until now. Ascribed to a new species, Homo georgicus, small in size measuring 1.5 m with a cranial capacity of 600 to 700 cm 3 (half of modern man\u27s capacity), they represent the ancestors of a long European or Eurasian lineage. Two new concepts can be retained: – the exodus from Africa took place earlier than previously thought, dating back to at least 1.8 Myr ago. It was carried out by Homo georgicus, a group close to Homo habilis; – it is no longer valid to base explanations of Man\u27s migratory capacity in terms of cranial development. Homo georgicus , with a small brain volume, already had the faculty to adapt to a more favourable environment for his survival.</p